Democrats clash in Congress over how to pass the plan that includes a path to citizenship for millions

By Sahil Kapur - NBC News

The House of Representatives returned Monday ahead of its August recess,

and Democratic leaders are now working to add the votes needed to pass the $ 3.5 trillion budget bill pushed by President Joe Biden

, which may include a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants when finalized at the end of the year.

But the progressive representatives and the moderates clash over strategy, and the party has yet to agree on how to move forward.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to advance the budget plan alongside the infrastructure bill (both were already approved by the Senate) is threatened by a rebellion by moderate Democrats, who have insisted on that the second, valued at 550,000 million dollars, be voted before to become law. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to pass both bills simultaneously.Reuters / Gabrielle Crockett / REUTERS

Pelosi can only lose three Democratic votes if she wants to pass the budget plan, since she does not have any Republican support.

Nine moderates led by

New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer

have insisted that the infrastructure bill must be voted on first.

They agreed to it on Sunday night.

In an opinion piece published in

The

Washington Post,

these congressmen wrote that they "strongly oppose the president's infrastructure law being held hostage, putting its approval and the bipartisan support behind it at risk."

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Over the weekend, Pelosi tried to appease the moderates by setting an

Oct. 1 goal to pass both bills

.

"Any delay in passing the budget resolution threatens the timetable for achieving the historic progress and transformative vision that Democrats share," Pelosi wrote in a letter to her colleagues on Saturday.

"We must act quickly to pass the budget resolution this week," he wrote, 

"it is essential that we proceed in a unified manner in our determination to achieve once-in-century progress for children."

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Democratic leaders hope to approve rules for the vote on Monday, which will most likely take place on Tuesday, on the budget resolution.

This plan contains instructions to Congressional committees to draft a $ 3.5 trillion package of

social safety net expansions and higher income tax increases

.

It can be passed in both houses without Republican support.

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Biden faces criticism

, some of it coming from senior Democratic officials on Capitol Hill,

about his handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

It's unclear if that will get in the way of passing his domestic agenda, which will require putting pressure on reticent lawmakers under the party's narrow majorities.

"I'm not worried about it," said Faiz Shakir, a former aide to Bernie Sanders, a senator from Vermont, chairman of the Budget Committee, who is overseeing the development of the larger bill.

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"A president has huge responsibilities, but he has a great team that helps him get things done.

I'm sure he and his Administration have the ability to walk and chew gum

," Shakir said.

"Whether it's Afghanistan or the domestic agenda to rebuild better, all we're talking about is delivering on the promises that he campaigned on and won on," he added.

The stakes are high for Biden's presidency and the future of the Democratic Party,

which hopes to campaign on budget and infrastructure bills in next year's election.